Chapter 3
Selene stood next to her father, Lord Arryn and the other members of the Small Council as they stared at the burnt out remains of what was once Littlefinger's brothel. The fire hadn't destroyed anything but the brothel, something she was pleased about, she didn't want to burn the city to the ground. Her father was very disappointed, apparently it was his favourite brothel. Oh well, you couldn't please everyone.
"What do you mean you didn't see anything?!" Baelish yelled at a couple of his whores who stood outside on the street with them, looking more angry then she had ever seen from the man.
The whores had been able to get out of the establishment in time, saving their own lives and leaving behind their customers to their fiery deaths, not that it bothered Selene one bit. The world was a brighter place without those skum that she had killed.
"Mi lord," one of the whores began, a tanned girl with a Dornish appearance, trembling slightly, fearful of what their employer would do to them. "We did what we could to put out the fire, but we were unable too."
"And what of Commander Stokeworth, Deem and the others?" Lord Arryn questioned.
"When they saw the fire, they valiantly risked, and gave their lives trying to put it out." The same whore answered.
'Liar, you know it, I know it, and so does everyone else. The lot of you saved yourselves and left those men to burn,' She thought, not that she really cared. She had nothing against the whores who worked for Littlefinger, most of them weren't guilty of any crimes and in many cases they were the ones who suffered the most because of that man and his willingness to provide his clients with whatever they required.
"I understand the High Septon was also within the brothel." Stannis stated. He didn't really care about what had happened, he disagreed greatly with prostitution and one of his first acts as lord of Dragonstone was to ban it on the island. The fact that the men who had burned alive were also some of the most corruptible people within the capital also meant he cared not for their deaths.
"Ha, guess he didn't care much for his vows of celibacy." Her father barked.
"As I understand it the Faith is furious." Renly added. "Apparently the High Septon's crystal crown was lost in the fire." 'More likely one of the whores stole it on the way out,' Selene thought, though she didn't speak her thoughts. The crown was likely in Baelish's grubby little fingers by now and would probably never be seen again.
"Strange that the Faith cares more for the lost crown then their High Septon." Varys remarked.
"That crown is a priceless relic of the Faith of the Seven, of course they have a right to grieve for its loss." Pycelle objected, though whether that was due to his own beliefs or simply because it was Varys who made the remark she didn't know. The Grand Maester held a lot of disdain for the Master of Whisperers.
"Then the Septon shouldn't have had it with him while he as in the brothel, you don't see me wearing my crown when I'm fucking a whore." Her father grumbled.
"As interesting as discussing the Faiths lost trinkets are," She spoke, drawing a few looks. "We have more important matters. The Lord Commander, and his top lieutenants are dead, leaving the gold cloaks now without a chain of command."
"Indeed." Lord Arryn spoke, his mind quickly going through the remaining gold cloaks. "Jacelyn Bywater could be made Lord Commander, far less corrupt and more trustworthy then Slynt ever was."
After that the lot of them went through a list of potential commanders of the city watch, some of them had potential, while others listed were completely laughable. Her uncle Renly even suggested giving command to Loras Tyrell and everyone dutifully refrained from rolling their eyes. Honestly, Selene was starting to suspect that her uncle was nothing more then a Tyrell lapdog.
"Any ideas Selene?" Her father asked her. Robert had been asking his daughter a lot about ruling lately, and though she wasn't aware of it he was purposely testing her.
"Rolland Storm." She answered after a moment.
"The bastard of Nightsong?" Robert questioned as he scratched his beard. A proven battle commander from both his rebellion as well as the Greyjoy's, and while Robert didn't know the man well, he had little doubt that he would be an improvement over Slynt.
"The man's incorruptible, loyal to a fault and doesn't tolerate any bullshit." Selene defended the man.
While they all debated who should be given command, the man known as Littlefinger slowly stalked off, completely furious. True Slynt was a complete coward, but the man was in his payroll, and with his death, replaced with a man who would more then likely be completely loyal to the Baratheons, then his hold over the gold cloaks would massively decrease.
There was little doubt in his mind who was responsible, and while he didn't know how she had managed to burn down his brothel, he would make her suffer for it, and he would make sure that she received the same fate as her uncle and grandfather, and same fate he was planning for her other uncle.
- Line Break -
Tywin took a sip from the wine in his hand. Truthfully he didn't actually like the taste of wine, too sweet for his tastes but there was little alternative. As sweet as Arbor Gold was, or as sour as Dornish Red was, both were better then the other atrocious ales and beverages that littered Westeros.
"I'm surprised that you agreed to the Kings offer." His brother Kevin told him, the two of them alone in his solar. His solar was actually rather simple for the richest lord in Westeros, with only a desk, a bookshelf and a large tapestry depicting the Lannister lion. Although on his desk was a small box that contained one of the smaller dragon skulls formally belonging to House Targeryen.
"The princess' offer." He corrected. That fat drunk that he was forced to call his good son lacked the brain capacity to even come up with such an idea.
"The princess' offer. Still I'm surprised you accepted it, that debt was a large source of our influence in King's Landing." Kevin said, as drank from his own cup of wine.
"In the short term the debt was useful and gave us great influence in the capital, in the long term however, and when Joffrey sits the Iron Throne, then the debt not only to us, but the Tyrells, the Iron Bank and the Faith would have been crippling." Tywin explained to his brother. "Robert Baratheon doesn't just borrow money, he borrows it from dangerous people, and his daughter has the sense of it and is correcting her father's follies. And saving us the trouble of cleaning up the debt when Joffrey is king."
"Cersei's been writing to us, complaining about Selene Baratheon. 'She's stealing our influence, she hurt my precious Joffrey, she's stolen my daughter from me'. Ridiculous." Kevin muttered disdainfully.
"If Cersei was half as smart as she liked to think she was then she would have been a mother to Selene, or at the very least civil to the girl so she wouldn't hate us as much as she does." Tywin replied. "Selene Baratheon is an exceptionally intelligent young woman with great influence in the Stormlands and the North, her support of Joffrey would have meant a great deal but now she's more then likely to oppose her brother then anything."
"You respect her." His brother stated in surprise, Tywin wasn't one to feel, nevertheless show respect for someone.
"She is worthy of some respect." He conceded.
"Even though she hates us?"
"Half the realm hates us, the difference is she doesn't let her hatred get in the way of working with us." Selene Baratheon was loyal only to her family, and she didn't count the Lannisters as family, but that didn't mean that she had a problem working with them if it happened to benefit her. The deal they made two years ago where he migrated a thousand miners in exchange for a thousand farmers was proof enough of that.
It also allowed the lords of the Westerlands to farm their own crops, rather then purchase them at cutthroat prices from the Reach and Riverlords, something that was becoming exceptionally necessary considering the dire state of their gold mines. Mines run dry, that was common knowledge, but the Lannisters had been mining Casterly Rock for thousands of years, and their ancesters seemed to develop the belief that they would never run out of gold.
"We both know about the state of our gold mines." Tywin told his brother out loud, not needing to fear any spies overhearing. As skilled as the likes of Varys and Baelish were, getting their lowborn servants into his solar was simply beyond them.
"They've not run dry yet." Kevin reminded him.
"True, but they now yield barely of fraction of the gold that they did during our father's rule of Casterly Rock." Mentioning his father left a bitter taste in his mouth, but it was a valid point. "Six years without paying a single copper in taxes will allow us to invest our gold into alternative forms of wealth."
"I'm guessing that you'll stop funding the king." Kevin assumed.
"Cersei will receive the same stipend from us as she usually does, but that's it. Robert Baratheon can find someone else to fund his tournaments and his whoring." Tywin snapped. House Lannister had been given a great boon from the crown, and he wasn't going to let it go the waste. Already he had commissioned for both Castamere and Tarbeck Hall to be rebuilt, may as well put those ruins to good use rather then let them remain as monuments to those who dared defy the lords of Casterly Rock.
And those two seats, both very wealthy in their own right, would be ruled directly by the Lord of Casterly Rock, with the gold amassed by those two seats going straight to their coffers. When their gold mines finally did run dry, then House Lannisters would in no way be crippled.
- Line Break -
If there was one thing that Varys hated more then anything, it was when his enemies did what was best for the realm. And that was what Selene Baratheon was, his enemy, which was a real shame as she was one of the few nobles in Westeros who not only cared about the people but actually did something to help them. Nearly every day she went into the city and talked to the people, helped them. In fact she even migrated many of them to the Stormlands where according to his little birds they were given land to work on and homes, with many now starting to lead better lives then they were in the capital. Not since Rhaegar Targeryen had a member of the royal family ever done something to help the people in King's Landing, and to do so without an ulterior motive.
The crime rate in the capital had also dropped ever since that unfortunate incident in Baelish's brothel nearly two months ago where Janos Slynt and five of his top lieutenants where tragically killed and command of the gold cloaks was placed in the joint command of Rolland Storm, Jacelyn Bywater and to the surprise and scorn of many, Brienne of Tarth. The famed beauty had however proved beyond all doubt her competence, as well as her sense of duty to the point that even the dour Stannis Baratheon respected her.
Barely four months in the capital and Selene was already cleaning up the corruption and Varys, despite being a staunch Targeryen loyalist just couldn't find it in him to fault the woman, even if with her actions there was a slow but sure decrease in Targeryen loyalty among the people of the capital. Oh there were still many who fondly remembered Rhaegar but as far as many small folk were concerned the Targeryens were gone, and the Baratheons were here to stay.
In the end Varys couldn't bring himself to be too angry, as despite his personal loyalties, it was the realm that he truly served, and if Joffrey was anything like his 'sister' then he may very well truly serve the Baratheons instead. But Joffrey wasn't anything like Selene, he was as mad and cruel as Aerys had been, if not worse since Aerys didn't go mad until after Duskendale while Joffrey just seemed to be born twisted. In fact when Joffrey sat upon the Iron Throne he would unknowingly become the Targeryens greatest ally, by tearing the realm apart and leaving the dragons to pick up the pieces.
But still, that left the question of what to do with Selene Baratheon. It was only a matter of time before Baelish made a move to remove Selene from the 'game', after all though there was no proof, it was obvious that she was responsible for what happened to Baelish's brothel. The question was when would Littlefinger strike at her. His rival was a patient man, one who could wait months, if not years before enacting his revenge, but sooner or later Baelish would strike at Selene, the question was whether or not Varys should do something about it.
If he let Selene die then he had no doubt that the eventual reconquest would be easier, and the young woman did not have a fond opinion of the Targeryens so the chances of making her an ally were slim to none. But then again the woman despised Joffrey, and would need little motivation to turn against the bastard that she thought was her brother, and if she was to ever discover the truth about Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella. Well Varys doubted that Selene could bring herself to hurt either Tommen and Myrcella, but if she knew the truth there was no chance in the Seven Hells that she would ever let Joffrey sit on the Iron Throne.
Varys continued his walk through the secret chambers below the capital as he headed towards the room that served as his meeting place with his little birds. When he reached the door, he knocked twice on it, and then thrice, and then once, to show that it was him. The door opened revealing one of his little birds and he then went inside, where he saw a dozen of them.
His birds brought very interesting whisperers, Tywin Lannister spending massive amounts of gold in the Westerlands, certainly something worth investigation, an increasing number of wildling raids in the North, with an ever decreasing number of members of the Night's Watch. Balon Greyjoy waiting for the perfect opportunity for the kingdoms to appear weak before starting another rebellion. Increasing discontent within the Riverlands with the Tullys down two three male members, two of which were far to old to marry and the third who was in his late twenties but absolutely refusing to marry.
But the biggest concern was the Vale. Between Lysa Arryn ruling the Eyrie, combined with Jon Arryn's increasing age, and the ever present hill tribes, the Vale all but belonged to Littlefinger. Nearly a third of the Vale nobility now answered to Littlefinger, and while there was much opposition to Lysa Arryn in the Eyrie, the half mad shrew hardly inspired loyalty after all, when Jon Arryn died their loyalties would shift to Lord Arryn's son. Hell considering Lord Arryn's age it was doubtful Littlefinger even needed to remove him from the game, the man was sixty eight after all, and who knew how much longer he would live for.
'So many problems, so little time,' Varys couldn't help but think to herself.
- Line Break -
Selene sighed as she looked over yet another useless piece of parchment in the desk in front of here. She was within the vault she had found, slowly going through everything that was in it, which was easier said then done. Nine out of ten pieces of parchment were written in High Valyrian, and while Selene had an understanding of the language, she was no expert on it, which resulted in the rather large Valyrian dictionary in front of her.
"The priest- No." She muttered as she corrected herself, looking up the word in the dictionary. "The prince who was promised." She read the title of the parchment.
"Coming is the one who shall lead the world from darkness,"
"The one who shall defeat the Great Enemy,"
"The one with ice and fire by their side,"
"Azor Ahai will be reborn,"
"And the Prince will save the world."
"A prophecy." She muttered with complete loathing. A mother fucking prophecy. Selene hated prophecies more then anything. For every prophecy that was fulfilled there were a hundred that weren't, they were unreliable, open to interpretation and caused more harm then they ever could do good. Not to mention those that were fulfilled were often self fulfilling. Voldemort had targeted her because of the prophecy and unknowingly fulfilled it by marking her as her equal. She had spent her entire life as Haley Potter being hunted down by that madman because of a prophecy, and in the end it was all for nothing, she didn't defeat Voldemort, he'd killed her in order to destroy the Horcrux that was in her head.
There was writing written in the common tongue below, handwriting that she had come to recognise as Rhaegar Targeryen's. How Rhaegar had discovered the vault she didn't know, or care for that matter, but he had.
"I am beyond all doubt, my son Aegon is the Prince who was Promised, while my daughter Rhaenys is the fire, born from the Dornish flame, but I need a Visenya. Elia is unable to have any more children, Aegon's birth has had a large affect on her health, and even if she was to become pregnant again it would likely kill both her and the child.
"But even if Elia was able to concieve another child it wouldn't represent the ice. I have the fire, but now I need the ice. There is only one family in Westeros that represents ice, a family that fought the Great Enemy once before, the Starks of Winterfell. Lyanna Baratheon nee Stark is the first female of that house in decades, she will provide me with a Visenya."
Selene was trembling slightly as she placed the parchment down onto the table. "'Moon tea would have left her damaged'. Unable to have more children." She muttered, remembering the writing Rhaegar had written when she had first found the parchment. She felt sick, nope, she was going to throw up.
Quickly pushing herself out of the chair she collapsed onto her hands and knees, as she barfed. Throwing up everything she had eaten all day, and day before before. Even after she had thrown up everything in her stomach to the point that it hurt, she still felt like she could still throw up.
"That bastard. That mother fucking rapist bastard." She muttered with complete loathing as she slowly pushed herself off the floor. Her father once said that he killed Rhaegar every night in his dreams, well now she wished that the bastard was still, so she could kill him like her father dreamed of killing that inbreed motherfucking bastard.
Not even bothering to clean up the sick Selene slowly exited the vault, and headed to her chambers, completely exhausted both physically and emotionally.
- Line Break -
Selene walked to her father's chambers in the Red Keep. It had been two days since she had read the prophecy 'prince that was promised' and she did not like being in the Red Keep since then. In fact she despised being in the Red Keep, it left her agitated, because even after fourteen years under Baratheon rule, there was still the ever present reminder, usually in the form of the dragon paintings that littered nearly every wall in the castle, that the Targeryens had once ruled the city.
Which was why she had decided to start her journey to Winterfell much earlier then she had planned. Some time away from the capital would be good for her. Walking towards her father's chambers she saw Ser Jaime standing guard outside, though for once there was a distinct lack of the sound of whores coming from her father's room. "Ser Jaime," She greeted him. "Is my father inside?" She asked.
"Indeed, though for once the old drunkard isn't fucking boars and hunting whores." Jaime replied lazily as he leaned against the wall, not at all bothered about the way that he was speaking about the king, or about the fact that it was too the King's daughter.
"Careful Ser Jaime, despite his faults he is still my father." She told him. "Besides considering the way your own sister whores, you really can't say anything." She told him as she started walking past him before he moved from the wall leaning against, straight into her path.
"What did you just say?" He asked her coldly to her surprise.
"You mean you don't know?" She asked in surprise. Cersei whored almost as much as her father, albeit she was more subtle about it. Selene would have thought that Jaime Lannister of all people would have been more aware of his sister's activities then anyone. "Your sister whores as much as my father, though she's more subtle about it." Ser Jaime was developing a very prominent throbbing vein on his forehead as she continued. "Osmund Kettleblack, and his brothers seem to be particular favourites of your sister."
It was at that point that Jaime snapped, moving almost faster then she could track he crossed the small distance between them and pushed her against the wall, placing his hands at the base of her neck, not enough to strangle her, but close enough that he could still strangle her, or snap her neck.
"You lie." He snarled at the stag spawn as he resisted the urge to just choke the life out of her for daring to insult his sister. He got away with killing a king, he could get away with killing a princess. The fact that Cersei would pleasure him in ways that he could scarcely imagine for it, almost made his fingers twitch to choke her and his cock to harden.
Selene calmly placed her hands on Jaime's wrists, and with more force then he realised she possessed, Selene pried his hands from her neck and then twisted them, not enough to be painful, but enough to be uncomfortable. Though she knowledgeable enough, and very tempted to put pressure on just the right points in his wrists to paralyse them. "I'm not lying. If you want to know the truth ask your sworn brothers, she's constantly whoring while they're standing guard for her. You must be an exception. I guess Cersei doesn't get her jollies from her brother listening to her getting fucked."
Jaime's normally pale face was developing a very interesting shade of red that looked very similar to that of Vernon Dursley. Without saying a word he pulled his hands out of her grip and stormed off.
Selene was very intrigued about the Kinglsayers reaction. It was way to extreme for someone who was merely angry about his sister being called a whore, especially when that was what Cersei Lannister was, a whore. Pushing her thoughts from her mind she entered her father's chambers to find her father in his bed, with a no doubt terrible hangover. "You look like shit." She stated, getting a loud groan in response.
"Is that the way you speak to your king?" Robert asked as he pushed himself up with great effort.
"When the king is completely hungover, and said king is also my own father, then yes, that is how I speak to the king." Selene answered back, causing her father to let out a bellowing laugh.
"Good point." Robert admitted, before he caught sight of something on his desk. "Pass that bottle of wine." He told his daughter. In Robert's personal experience a drink was the best cure for a hangover.
Selene grabbed the half empty bottle but rather then give it to her father she brought it to her lips, and down in one she drained it dry. Letting out a loud sigh she spoke to her father. "Sorry dad but I think it's empty." She said remorsefully as she handed the now empty bottle to him.
"Cheeky brat." Robert muttered as he stared at the empty bottle of Arbor gold. "So come of it, why are you here? You wouldn't be here this early unless it was important."
"For starters, it's nearly mid day." Her father let out a small curse at that. "Second of all I decided to start the journey to Winterfell much earlier." She informed her father.
That got Robert's attention, as with great effort he pushed himself out of them bed. "Why?" He asked suspiciously.
In response Selene just shrugged. She couldn't very well tell him the truth, that would just open a whole series of questions that would be very difficult to answer without resulting in more questions. "I want to visit the North, I want to see my mother's homeland. And truthfully, I just want to get out of this stinking city, after five years in Storm's End I've forgotten how much this bloody city stunk."
Robert nodded in understanding, he couldn't deny his daughter the chance to see her family, and see the homeland of his beloved. "Very well. I wish I could come with you, but both Jon and your uncles are constantly nagging me. Besides I've got an important matter to deal with."
Selene nodded, and with a quick hug to her father, she left to prepare for the journey, not realising what her father was planning to do, or how it would impact on her.
Selene walked to the training yard where she found Brienne overseeing the training of the new recruits for the gold cloaks. In order to improve the efficiency of the gold cloak it was decided that they would be increased to three thousand members instead of two thousand, and that command of an individual thousand would be given to the three leaders, Jacelyn Bywater, Rolland Storm, and of course Brienne.
"How are they doing?" Selene asked.
"I'll tell you when they finally learn which end to hold a spear." Brienne replied dryly. "How long before we leave?"
"Your not coming with me." She told Brienne who looked at her sharply.
"I am your sworn sword." Brienne objected.
"You are also one of the top commanders of the gold cloaks and you are completely incorruptible." Selene countered. "If you leave then Cersei or Littlefinger will get one of their lackeys in charge. If losing my sworn sword means that corruption stays out of King's Landing then that's a price I'm willing to pay."
Brienne nodded, albeit very reluctantly. Brienne liked serving Selene, she was, in Brienne's personal opinion, the best of the Baratheons. While she would be lying if she claimed that she didn't fancy Renly, he just wasn't interested in ruling the Stormlands, more interested in enjoying the benefits that came with being a Lord Paramount then actually doing the responsibility that came with it. Stannis was fair but harsh, but while he did his duty and helped the people, he didn't do it because he wanted to but because he believed it to be his responsibility. As for the King, well King Robert had been great once, but now he was but a shadow of his former self, both physically and mentally. Prince Joffrey was a spoilt prick, and Brienne really hadn't spent enough time around either Tommen or Myrcella for her to get an accurate idea on the youngest two Baratheons.
"Very well, who will you be taking with you?" Brienne asked.
"Ser Arys Oakheart, and fifty Baratheon guardsmen." She answered Brienne. Arys wasn't the most skilled member of her father's Kingsguard, but he, along with Ser Barristan, was probably the most trustworthy. Besides just because he didn't possess the same legendary skill as Ser Barristan and the Kingslayer, didn't mean he wasn't an exceptional fighter. In fact with the exception of Blount, whose appointment was more as a means of peace with the Targeryen loyalists within the Crownlands, all the Kingsguard were skilled with a blade.
"Very well." Brienne replied with a tone of reluctance. "At least he's better then Blount." She added remembering the ease with which she bested the kingsguard disgrace now nearly two years ago.
"That he is." Selene replied.
End of chapter 3. Please review.
In case anyone is confused Selene is aware that Cersei sleeps with other people beside her father, but isn't aware of the true extent of Cersei and Jaime's relationship.
Many have requested me to make Myrcella Robert's daughter, but I'm sorry but Myrcella is Jaime's daughter.
SPOILER. SPOILER. SPOILER. SPOILER. SPOILER. SPOILER. SPOILER.
Many have requested that Selene and Aegon (Elia's son, not Jon) get together, and while I'm undecided on who to pair Selene with I have decided to include Aegon in this story.